ADVENTURELAND

Imagine Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist ten times better, and then cross it with American Graffitti and you get Adventureland.

It's the '80's, and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is off to Columbia grad school in the fall. He's due for a tour of Europe this summer with his yuppie-nerd future roommate when James' father loses his job and James is forced to take a job at the local amusement park in Pittsburgh, Adventureland. His employers are the delightfully bossy and ever-pragmatic Bobby (Bill Hader) and his wife Paulette (Kristen Wiig). James quickly falls in with the cynical Joel (Martin Starr), a Russian literature major, and reluctantly reunites with childhood livewire friend Frigo (Matt Bush). Then fellow employee Em (Kristen Stewart) saves James from a knifing by an angry park-goer, and James' summer takes off as he enter a world of drinking, smoking, and finding true love. But as James is falling for Em, he has no idea that she's sleeping with married maintenance guy Connell (Ryan Reynolds), and notorious flirt Lisa P (Margarita Levieva) may be after James' heart as well.

This movie is so far above and beyond the average romantic comedy that it's hard to describe everything it does right. I'll start with the humor. It's not over-the-top like Superbad, it doesn't try to hammer you over the head, and yet I was laughing out loud more than once. It takes all the typical amusement park tripe (kids throwing up, food being inedible, a running "giant-ass Panda" gag) and breathes life and

every day humor into them. Then there's snarky deadpan comic timing from Joel, as well as the absolutely insane Frigo's physical comedy antics (like ruining a moment between James and Em by peeing on Em's window from outside). Even the camera angles and composition play to the humor, such as showing Joel's little brother mowing the lawn and then panning to reveal why the mowing is such a problem-it's because Joel and James are trying to have a serious conversation and the lawn is literally 2x2 feet.

Then there's the awesome, awesome soundtrack, featuring songs by Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, The Cure, The New York Dolls, and original music from alt rockers Yo La Tengo.

What really makes this coming-of-age story shine is how real it is, and the depth of the characters. Em and James aren't the only characters given development. When Joel has his heart broken, we realize that he's not there just to be the dark, gloomy, doomed-to-a-hell-that-is-Pittsburgh comic relief-he's real, and his life sucks. Connell is a Lothario-like musician who "once played with Lou Reed" (though it's hinted at multiple times in the movie that this is a lie) whose mystique and enigma are gradually peeled away to reveal not an advice-doling older brother figure to James, but a shallow womanizer who could care less about the people he sleeps with.
Em is dealing with the tragedy of having lost her mother two years ago, and now putting up with her horrible stepmother and less-than-proactive father. While I'm generally not a fan of Kristen Stewart, I will admit that she played a great Emotional Wreck here (though it'd be great if she could stop pulling her hair out all the time). Em came off as greatly unstable and insecure, but also as a beautiful, kind, and intelligent soul.

Jesse Eisenberg played one of the most adorable male leads I've ever seen. I've never understood why people like Michael Ceras so much because his characters are often incredibly flat or spineless-this is not the case with Eisenberg. He's endearing and charming and brave and sweet and funny. Win win win!

Anyway, you've got to hand it to a movie that portrays real life, true day-to-day antics, this well and with this much humor, heart, and sympathy.





Masterpiece.

-elln